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Tag Archives: late swing

During a typical rain-sodden English summer season in 2002, James Anderson lit up the Old Trafford stadium with a booming inswinger that trapped Surrey’s run machine Mark Ramprakash dead in front. In his first county game itself against Surrey, the shy lad from Burnley, left Lancashire’s cricket cognoscenti spellbound with a vivacious spell of swing bowling.

Fast forward to our present world. The shy lad, James Anderson, has become a nasty swing bowler who snarls, growls and even sledges at the batsmen. The banana-bending swing bowler from Burnley is a fine manipulator of the ball. With subtle changes of wrists and fingers, he orchestrates unsuspecting batsmen’s downfall by exploring every nook and cranny in their defence. Anderson’s adroitness with a red cherry in hand is unquestionable. In short, at the age of 30, Anderson is the irresistible force of English cricket.

If we turn back the years and trace Anderson’s early career, it feels like listening to a fairy tale story. Lancashire’s the then player-development manager John Stanworth was impressed by Anderson’s range of skills, and tried to persuade Lancashire’s coaching staff to have a look at him. Incidentally, Lancashire, just like other counties wanted to hire an overseas professional. But Anderson’s range of skills impressed the coaching staff, and he was drafted into the side.

In his first season, the Burnley Bullet regularly scythed through County batting line-ups with pace, cut and swing, and gave batsmen all over England headaches. Those 50 wickets he took in 2002, caught the eye of England’s swashbuckling opening batsman Trescothick. When England’s touring party to Ashes in 2002/03 was ravaged by injuries to key fast bowlers, Trescothick recommended Anderson’s name to England’s captain Nasser Hussain. Anderson subsequently made his debut at MCG, in a one-day match against Australia.

Anderson’s fairy tale story continued, as he ripped through Pakistan’s famed batting line-up in the World Cup at Capetown in 2002/03. For most fast bowlers to bowl an out-swinging yorker on off-stump is beyond the realms of possibility, but by sending Yousef’s off-stump somersaulting with the new ball, Anderson made it a reality.

The hat-trick Anderson took against Essex in a county match in May 2003, helped him to break into the test side as well. In his first test at the hallowed Lord’s cricket ground against Zimbabwe, he swerved the ball away from right-handers, and took a 5-for. He was suddenly the talk of the town, and was even touted as the saviour of English cricket.

Unfortunately for Anderson, his honeymoon period was soon coming to a very bitter end. The coaching staff started to tinker with his action, and the emergence of troika of quick bowlers: Flintoff, Harmison and Simon Jones, led to Anderson just warming the benches.

Whenever James Anderson got a rare opportunity to play, he bowled like a loose cannon. It is difficult to blame Anderson for such capriciousness, as he was made to play tests without many games under his belt. When Anderson replaced Simon Jones for the Wanderers test during the tour to South Africa in 04/05, he hadn’t played even a single first class game for close to five months. It is hard to fathom why the coaching staff didn’t think of playing him in the first class game against South Africa A at Potchefstroom. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that just like hungry vultures, South Africans tore Anderson’s bowling into pieces.

Anderson remained on the periphery of English selection. He wasn’t selected to play in the XI in Ashes 2005. It must have been a bitter pill for him to swallow, as England went onto win a historic test series against Australia. Every English cricketer’s dream is to play in Ashes, but in ’05 that dream didn’t materialise into reality for Anderson.

When called up as a replacement for the injury prone Simon Jones, during the tour of India in 05/06, he did make his presence felt by taking six wickets at Mumbai. But with Anderson, every good show was juxtaposed by a poor performance. It made the critics give him the name of ‘Daisy.’

Another body blow to Anderson’s career came in the form of a stress fracture, he suffered on his back in 2006. The irony of it being, the injury was caused due to coaching staff constantly tinkering with his action. These days, young bowlers are indoctrinated to bowl with a certain action, leading to loss of form and even injuries. When Anderson was bowling with his natural action, he was hooping it around the corners and taking wickets. But that wasn’t the case with his remodeled action.

The timely advice by former Lancashire’s coach Mike Watkinson, to go back to his old action, helped him to find his swing back. But on the cricket field, his career touched its nadir, as the Australian batsmen took a liking to his bowling. In the Ashes 06/07, Anderson took just 5 wickets at a cost of 82.60. To make matters worse for him, he had bowled a mere 34.1 overs, since his comeback from the back injury. Yet the English selectors and Duncan Fletcher were convinced that he will be match fit to take on blood-thirsty Australians, waiting to take revenge for the ’05 Ashes loss. It was certainly a tumultuous year for Anderson.

With injuries to Hoggard, Harmison and Flintoff in ’07, Anderson got a window of opportunity to show his wares against the touring Indians. He made that chance count, by taking a 5-for at Lord’s. Anderson seemed to be in a relaxed state of mind, and by going back to his original action, he was able to generate prodigious swing. Anderson also seemed to have worked very hard on his inswinger, as he bowled the inswinger with better control, and troubled the Indian batsmen throughout the series.

The watershed moment in Anderson’s career came about in 07/08 in New Zealand. England’s coach Peter Moores, decided to drop both Hoggard and Harmison. England had lost the first test at Hamilton, and as a result, Moores wanted to inject fresh blood into the pace attack. Broad and Anderson were selected for the game at Basin Reserve, and England won that test convincingly. Anderson in particular had a good game, as he took a 5-for at Basin Reserve.

James Anderson caused more misery for the Kiwi batsmen, when they toured the Old Blighty in ’08. At Trent Bridge, he put on a virtuoso exhibition of swing bowling to make short work of New Zealand’s batting line-up. The way he in-slanted the Duke ball, before making it to swing it late away from both Redmond and McCullum was a sight to behold. Late swing has become one of those utterly mundane cliches used by commentators to describe every swing bowler going around, but it sits well with Jimmy Anderson.

When Pakistan toured England in ’10, Anderson ran riot by bowling on some sprightly tracks. He took 23 wickets in that series at a cost of just 13.73. The peach of a delivery he bowled to send Farhat’s stumps cartwheeling at Trent Bridge was a swing bowler’s equivalent to Shane Warne’s magic ball in Ashes ’93. By bowling from around the wicket, he swung it into the left-handed Farhat, before it virtually snaked away at a high speed to take out the off-stump. Farhat must have felt like he had been hit by a 440-volt shock that day.

In-spite of some sterling performances for England that year, there were lingering doubts about Anderson’s ability to perform on hard wickets, and with a kookaburra ball Down Under. It seemed to have spurred Anderson, as by banishing all his inner demons, he bowled with zest, verve and gusto to take 24 wickets in the series. It was a spirited riposte to all those critics baying for his blood.

He didn’t have sheer pace to send the Australian batsmen quivering for cover on those hard wickets. But Anderson used every little trick available to a swing bowler to succeed. If it was swing that got him those prized scalps of Clarke and Ponting at Adelaide then, with seam movement, he impressed everyone at Brisbane and Melbourne. At SCG, he used reverse swing to good effect, in the second innings. The now famous Anderson’s ‘knuckle ball’ and his surprise inswinger, kept the Australian batsmen on tenterhooks. To make it worse for the left-handers, he would bowl from around the wicket, and by using the crease, bait them like a temptress. Australian batsmen found it hard to decipher Anderson’s modus operandi in that series.

In Australia, Anderson seemingly had the ball on a string, and did whatever he wished to do. Cricket pundits compared him rightly to a cheetah, as just like a true predator, he was preying on unsuspecting batsmen stealthily. The way he would set up a batsman, before delivering the coup de grace was a sharp contrast to the Anderson, who bowled with lingering self-doubts in 06/07 Ashes.

In 2011, Anderson’s effervescent endeavours even helped England to usurp India, as the number one ranked team in test cricket. Last year, he hammered the final nail in the critics’ coffin by succeeding in Asia. He strained every sinew on abrasive surfaces of UAE, Srilanka and India, and did well. In India, he continuously played on the batsmen’s minds with a mixture of in-dippers and swing. It tells us, a good bowler can succeed anywhere.

With 295 wickets to his name, Anderson is on the cusp of becoming only the fourth English bowler to take 300 test wickets. In the ongoing series in New Zealand, he has been slightly below par. But it shouldn’t take long for Anderson’s competitive juices to flow again.

Just having a glance at Anderson’s bowling average of 30.46, it can be misinterpreted that he is overrated. But he was mismanaged by the coaching staff, and as a result, took more time to mature. In his last 35 tests, he has chalked up some impressive numbers, as he has taken 147 wickets at 26.03. It also has to be said that these days, bowlers have to bowl on some flat decks. With modern day batsmen sporting all those strange accoutrements, it makes that much harder for a bowler to make his mark. The metamorphosis of Anderson from being called a ‘Daisy’ to a world class swing bowler can be a ray of hope for all those promising quicks struggling to make their mark.

When, Tim Southee left the beautiful Basin Reserve ground on 6th of April, 2009, he seemed like a man, whose career was at crossroads. On that day, this gifted swing bowler cut a forlorn figure, as the Indian batsmen smashed his bowling to smithereens. When Southee was bowling, I felt pity on Kiwi fielders too, as they had to bring out their diving skills to stop the ball from crashing into the boundary boards.

Rewind a bit further back to 22nd March, 2008. Southee had just bullied the under 19 batsmen into submission in the World Cup. He even carried that form into his debut test against England. On a seaming deck, Southee just scythed through England’s top-order and took a 5-fer. Later on in that game, he showed he can wield a bat like an axe; by smashing 77 of just 40 balls.

Those two contrasting days in Southee’s career, tells us a bit about a top sportsman’s career. As a microcosm of life, a top sportsman’s career will also have days, when nothing seems to go right. A few will just drown in depression. But the best in the business will be able to overcome it, through guts and gumption.

Just think of the champion tennis player, Nadal. In ’07 Wimbledon, he looked well set to defeat his arch rival, Federer. Unfortunately, from nowhere, he lost his way and Fedex won that year. Afterwards, Rafa said; he cried non-stop in the players locker room for a longtime. The gutsy Rafa though, took that defeat on his chin, as he outlasted Federer in a marathon five-setter, the very next year at the hallowed turf of Wimbledon.

Last year, Tim Southee too showed his mettle after years of under-performance. From a bowler, who averaged 38.92 and 42.36 in ’10 and ’11 respectively, he became a thorn in the flesh of the batsmen; by taking 25 wickets at just 22.64. When Southee blew away India and Sri Lanka in their own backyard, one wondered whether was he Southee’s twin brother masquerading as Tim Southee.

The 7 for 64, Southee took against the formidable Indian batting line-up (at least on paper) at Bangalore has to be one of the best spells of ’12. Under slightly overcast conditions, he seemingly had that ball on a string, and did whatever he wished to do that day. The track at Bangalore was by no means a swing bowler’s paradise yet, he made the ball talk by consistently swinging it late at decent pace. He even used the surprise bouncer and the change up scrambled seam delivery to great effect. Tim Southee going after the compulsive hooker, Pujara with bouncers and finally, nailing him with a well directed bouncer would be etched in my memory.

The little master, Tendulkar wasn’t spared either. After bowling a few good length deliveries, Southee surprised Tendulkar with a change up scrambled seam delivery to uproot his stumps. Tendulkar is perhaps coming to the fag end of his illustrious career yet, every bowler would dream of taking the little master’s wicket. The icing on the cake was he set up Tendulkar before delivering the coup de grace.

Southee did something similar in the beautiful Emerald Isles too. Sri Lanka’s opening bat, Dlishan can be an annoying batsman, as he wafts and swishes at almost every delivery outside the off-stump, but doesn’t seem to get the edge. Southee didn’t lose his nerve, while bowling to him, as he looked to cramp Dilshan for room. He also put finishing touches to that bowling master-class; by finding a gap between Dlishan’s bat and pad, and sending his stumps for a walk. Even their premier batsman, Sangakkara was a victim of some careful planning and brilliant execution by the wily fox, Southee. A good length delivery outside the off-stump; followed by a quick short delivery that forced Sangakkara to play, proved to be too good for this Zen Master. In India and Sri Lanka, Southee was like a predator preying on the batsmen stealthily without their knowledge.

What more, New Zealand went onto win that test at PSS Colombo and drew the series 1-1. I am sure the five wicket haul that Southee took at PSS Colombo would have made him a happy man, as New Zealand won the test. It is sad but true that Southee was ruled out of the tour to South Africa, due to a thumb injury. On those seaming decks, Southee could have been a handful.

Mind you, swing bowling is a very difficult art to master. To bowl cocked-wrist swing, and become a great manipulator of the ball. To also swing it either way; with the seam being perfectly upright isn’t a child’s play. Even if it goes wrong ever so slightly, a swing bowler will lose his way.

Our Tim Southee is still not a swing king. He isn’t yet a great manipulator of the ball. He isn’t yet Steyn or, Jimmy Anderson to explore every nook and cranny in the defence of a batsman. Southee’s test bowling average of 35.04 doesn’t make for great reading either. Only a brave man though, will be willing to bet against South Africa’s great fast bowler, Allan Donald’s prophecy that one-day, Southee is going to be the best swing bowler going around.

Even from New Zealand’s perspective, a fit and firing Southee is a must, when they take on the men from Old Blighty in the test series. Southee and his partner in crime, Boult can make Englishmen dance to their swinging tunes; with their craft called swing bowling. Interesting times ahead.